Reflections on Biafra and One Nigeria
As Nigeria journeys through nationhood, it is incumbent to remember that, on this day, May 30, 1967, Lt. Colonel Ojukwu was compelled to succeed from Nigeria and declare the Republic of Biafra. For a country were most information and historical fact is based on propaganda and urban myths and were history is no longer taught in schools you will find that many Nigerians display a stunning degree of ignorance about the historical background and chain of events leading up to the declaration of Biafra and perceive it as a decision made in a vacuum lacking in reason or without provocation. The factors leading up to the war could take you back several decades, but it is instructive that Biafra was declared only six short years after Nigeria gained its independence from Britain in 1960 and the most direct and immediate causes can be condensed to a few interrelated events, including: 1) The first Nigerian coup machinated by military officers of mostly Igbo origin that tar...